The Central Hawke’s Bay District Council is asking local residents to conserve water in the wake of significant rainfall in the district.
Chief Executive Monique Davidson made the conserve water plea yesterday to help Councils’ systems cope.
Otane and Waipawa are on Level 4 water restrictions, while a Boil Water Notice has been put in place for those in Waipukurau.
Two water tankers were made available for Waipukurau residents last night.
Meanwhile Tararua District Council has put a Boil Water Notice for those in Dannevirke.
In a media release last night, the Council said heavy rain has resulted in the Tamaki River being in high flows and very high turbidity levels.
Council expects the notice to be in place for up to seven days.
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The Tukituki Swing Bridge has been destroyed by a raging Tukituki River.
Both the Tukituki and Waipawa Rivers are at their highest levels in years, and late yesterday afternoon the 100-metre-long swing bridge, that was constructed in 2017, was destroyed.
Commenters on social media had said they had been on the bridge earlier in the day.
Meanwhile a woman on her way to work early yesterday morning struggled to free herself from her vehicle after it got swept away in floodwaters on Elsthorpe Road.
The incident happened about 5.30 yesterday morning, and the woman was able to call for help from Fire & Emergency NZ.
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Roads were closed, schools shut their doors and businesses were affected by heavy rain in Central Hawke’s Bay overnight on Wednesday.
More than 200mm of rain had been recorded in parts of the district by mid-morning yesterday, with more falling throughout the day and overnight last night.
The Central Hawke’s Bay District Council activated its Emergency Response Team first thing yesterday morning and was staffed overnight.
Mayor Alex Walker told Central FM yesterday afternoon a number of agencies were involved, and the situation was being closely monitored.
As at this morning, 18 roads are listed as closed on the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council website, with others affected by floodwaters and debris.
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A Heavy Rain Warning for Hawke’s Bay has been extended out until midnight tonight.
The Metservice says we could expect a further 70 to 100 mm of rain to fall in the period from 8 o’clock last night to midnight tonight.
There is also a Heavy Rain Warning in place for Tararua District.
Forecasters were expecting a further 70 to 100mm of rain the period from 8 o’clock last night until 4pm today, with peak rates of 10 to 15mm per hour.
Eastern hills were expected to get up to 130mm of rain.
There is also a Strong Wind Watch in place for coastal areas of Tararua District and Hawke’s Bay.
Metservice says southerly winds may approach warning criteria in the 9 hours from 3pm until midnight.
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The East Coast Regional Final for the FMG Young Farmer competition will be held in Waipukurau tomorrow.
Spokesperson for the event, Joseph Watts, says there will be a full day of activity tomorrow at Russell Park and the Showgrounds.
The eight Young Farmers are :
Aiden Smith, Eskview YFC
Ben Gordon – Tikokino YFC
Fergus Casey – Dannevirke YFC
Hugh Banks – Eskview YFC
Josh Wilkinson – Dannevirke YFC
Mark Wallace – Ashley Clinton YFC
Samantha Thomson – Dannevirke YFC
William Hobson – Tikokino YFC
The winner from tomorrow will represent the region at the FMG Young Farmer Grand Final in Whangarei in July.
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There were 91 new cases of COVID-19 in CHB yesterday, with the districts number of active cases sitting at 580.
As a region, Hawke’s Bay reported 1055 new cases yesterday, with 40 people currently in hospital.
The number of active COVID cases in Tararua District has gone up by 26 to a total of 707
of 707
